What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

happthearts · Jan 22, 2006

. When you are the CNA or the nursing student you work very hard, esp. CNA. Being a CNA is hard physical labor with little pay and even less respect. Being a CNA for two months was one of the big motivators for me to go to nursing school in the first place. However, when you are the CNA or the student no matter how mad or frustrated you get with the pt or the family or the RN you can always simply tell the RN or the team leader that you are not responsible for the pt. See that is the difference, being the RN you are where the buck stops as far as caring for that pt when the doctor is not there. You as the RN have to be the one who ultimately says okay if no one else will do it (even if it is part of their job) I'll do it because that is MY PATIENT.
You know I concur with you .I explained to my aides when they pull stuff that is unethical .I warn them its not there Butt in the sling .Its me as there supervisor that gets in trouble .When they don't follow the plan of care.
When I was an aide My RN told me nurses could go to jail for the screw-up of an aide or another nurse they were supervising. Has always stuck with me.
I have been on both sides of this coin RN's that did sit on there BUTT and do nothing. I have noticed over the years those nurses who did not follow protocol usually had something that lost them there license for there Non actions in later years.
I know my aides might get a little upset when I tell them they must follow care plan .Because in my business I get chewed out by doctors, nurses, hosipes and insurance companies and lawyers when things don't go right.
The aides get mad when they come for there checks and I ask them for there charting ,when they don't have there charting done after having 2 weeks to do it .They give me every excuse in the book, if I could legally hold there check I would, but the law doesn't allow it. Then they get mad when I call and bug them about the charting. The aides also get mad when I do my supervisory visits and I have to write them up for not doing there job.
I am sorry I just don't understand social skills are just not taught in the work place anymore .How to take pride in doing ones job well and right the first time. People used to look up to those in nursing. A noble profession .Maybe we brought it on ourselves .By being lax in our ways. Being sloppy about our patient care.
If every nurse, DR, and aide would look as if they were caring for there mom there dad there child there wife. No one would leave the love one lying in BM or waiting to give a drug while fooling around at the nursing station talking with a boyfriend on the phone. If everyone would do there job there would be a lot more time to spare at work and no one would be so worn out because they had to do there peers share of the load.
To CNA to keep the RN off your back follow this.
CNA You are your nurses eyes. If you want to be a good CNA take notes of changes on your PT's and hand them to your RN. Be organized like when you get on shift. Toilet your PT's, pass water, get linen cart stocked lay out clothes for Pt who can dress them selves. Set Pt's up in front of sink with wash rag and tooth paste on there bush Its amazing how may dementia pt's can do self care if you set them up. Then do your showers.
Do this and your days half over. Just making rounds (toileting ,making beds) and answering call lights. If you would toilet your Pt's you will not have the mess most aides have when they goof off.
Sorry really had it in for some of my aides this week so this really hit home
I hope no one takes offence.
Happy

happthearts · Jan 22, 2006

Or 95 percent of the time, it gets blamed on the nurse!!! Not fair!

Sorry didn't see this until after I posted

DR wrote an order to give a Hot water enemma to a comtose patient. When I called the DR on the phone (being from another country) I thought he just made a mistake in his order because of verbage that he ment warm water . DR starts yelling at me on the phone I ment what I wrote!. I told him if this was the the case he could come down and give the enemma himself and I would call the RN in charge. He told me he would get me fired for not following his order.

DR actually showed up to give the enemma at at the same time charge RN showed up on the floor. DR was going to give Hot water enemma to PT for real.

They hospitial gaurds removed DR from floor .DR stated these comtose Pt were not worth living and should die anyway.He found out very quick you don't say things like this in a Catholic Hospitial and to a head RN who just happens to be a Nun. Needless to say DR was removed and I worked 3 more years in that hospitial until medcare cut backs.

Saved my backside from being chewed many times by questioning a Dr order.

What makes me laugh is they will try to say the nurse transposed it wrong.

I always thought that was strange as the nurse must read back that order to the DR . :uhoh3:

Happy

Josifek · Jan 22, 2006

Asking a co-worker (be it RN, LPN, or CNA) sitting at the nurses station talking to help me lift a large, unstable pt. to the bed and being told, "Oh, he can stand". Well thanks, I'm sure he can stand at times and on certain days but today he's dead weight (and twice my weight)! Also, as was said before on this thread, the nurse who searches for an aide to get this or that pt. a cup of water, tighten his wheelchair restraint, rearrange her pillow, etc. I don't mean looking up from a busy med pass and asking an aide to do these things but actually walking up and down the halls in search of someone else to do simple, basic, nursing care (one of these nurses is a good friend of mine:) ).

LSRN · Jan 22, 2006

I haven't read all 66 pages of this thread, so forgive me if this has been said before, but one of my pet peeves is when HIPAA is spelled HIPPA. I see this a lot, and for some reason, it really bugs me.

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Jan 22, 2006

Or 95 percent of the time, it gets blamed on the nurse!!! Not fair!

This happened related to me. My plastic surgeon who had done orbital reconstructive surgery on my right orbit due to a benign tumor had to asperate some fluid that had accumulated in the right side of my face...he then told his office nurse, who by the way is the sweetest person it the WHOLE world (she had come in during the asperation just to hold my hand) and he told her to put a pressure bandage on the right side of my face. The bandage broke the skin, which the nurse in question had told him would happen and he had said non-sense, the next time I went to see him he blamed the raw bit of skin on her saying she had put the bandage on to tight.

kjnorris · Jan 22, 2006

1. As a tech i see nurses surfing e-bay while thier call lights are going off then blame things on thier aide/tech. I have learned to state clearly what i will do. If this upsets my staff then fire me.

2. staffing --One person can't effectively take care of more than 16 people that is just answering call lights not meds or assesments. Just a simple reminder vitals are the nurses responsbility in the end if your aide/tech is behind it behooves you to help them!

3. doctors who refuse to come in on their on call weekend becuase they feel the ER doc can take care of it.

4. constantly having to cover for the fore said doctor when family asked is the doctor coming yet.

5. housekeeping that doesn't clean bsc becuase of biological hazards!?? what is a toilet but a bsc with plumbing!

6. nurses that ask for help then leave after you go in the room.

7. The saying im sorry for waking you! it should be im sorry this pt. is taking a turn for the worse at this time of the morning but if i had the schooling and MD behind my name this conversation wouldn't occur!

8. Report - bad, long or people who take too long recieving and show up late to releive.

9. Hosp. complaining about overtime!

10 could go on but now i sound disgruntled.

Unionize it is our future!

rx5prn · Jan 23, 2006

Great comments all, here are a few of my own:

Let's just hit the hightlights!

1. This stupid push to have "family-focused" care/open visitiation, what the hell is that? This is a busy ICU in a level one Trauma Center. More often than not the priority of the family is NOT what the patient really needs. Let's go a little further with the ignorant support from management for this type of "open visitiation." I have long been an advocate for locking the ICU's in our facility. You must have an ID to swipe to get in or you must be "buzzed" in. People get shot in drug deals gone bad, gang-banging, etc. and then we're supposed to treat all the visitors with open arms??? Not so much! It won't change until a nurse is actually killed at the bedside. (Because under the beliefs-as manifested through their actions-general verbal abuse, intimidation, etc is ok from visitors)

I'll be brief with the others!

2. Messy rooms! I understand when the patient has crashed there will be a mess. But if it has been a "regular" day, take one minute and pick up the crap you've left all over the place.

3. The obscenity of coding a 80+ patient with several co-morbidities.

4. Being treated like I'm lazy, stupid, etc. because I work night shift.

Thanks for listening all!

SinfulCNA27 · Jan 23, 2006

LMAO...thats a good one....:rotfl:

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · Jan 23, 2006

i haven't read all 66 pages of this thread, so forgive me if this has been said before, but one of my pet peeves is when hipaa is spelled hippa. i see this a lot, and for some reason, it really bugs me.

i like that one (and i don't think it's been said yet!!).

JKDON · Jan 23, 2006

Misspelled words in the chart...(basic nursing terms) .Is this how you spell misspell?:chuckle

RNZenpeaceful · Jan 23, 2006

One summer evening, the ER staff was frantically resuscitating a 3 year old drowing victim. We had the curtains around the area of this code, and suddenly, the curtains drew back a little, and standing there, licking an ice cream cone, was a middle-aged man, watching the whole scene as if it was an episode of "ER." The child's parents were crying and pacing right outside of the room; they would not stay in the consultation room...too upset. One of the nurses closest to him gently pulled him away from the room and out into the hall, and asked what is was he needed. He was very angry and impatient, and his answer was, "My mother is in the room next door and she has had the call bell on for 10 minutes, and no one has responded!!" The nurse explained that most of the staff had run into the room where the little girl was to help with that emergency. She then asked, "Was there something your mother needed?" His answer was "Yes, tissues!...and I don't really give a rat's a#* what someone else's problem is...my mom needs attention now!" All within earshot of the little girl's parents! Needless to say, those who overheard/saw this incident were totally amazed...including me, I guess until that night, I thought the vast majority of people could not possibly be that selfish! Quite a shock!

kadokin, ASN, RN · Jan 23, 2006

1. As a tech i see nurses surfing e-bay while thier call lights are going off then blame things on thier aide/tech. I have learned to state clearly what i will do. If this upsets my staff then fire me.
2. staffing --One person can't effectively take care of more than 16 people that is just answering call lights not meds or assesments. Just a simple reminder vitals are the nurses responsbility in the end if your aide/tech is behind it behooves you to help them!
3. doctors who refuse to come in on their on call weekend becuase they feel the ER doc can take care of it.
4. constantly having to cover for the fore said doctor when family asked is the doctor coming yet.
5. housekeeping that doesn't clean bsc becuase of biological hazards!?? what is a toilet but a bsc with plumbing!
6. nurses that ask for help then leave after you go in the room.
7. The saying im sorry for waking you! it should be im sorry this pt. is taking a turn for the worse at this time of the morning but if i had the schooling and MD behind my name this conversation wouldn't occur!
8. Report - bad, long or people who take too long recieving and show up late to releive.
9. Hosp. complaining about overtime!
10 could go on but now i sound disgruntled.
Unionize it is our future!

1. Write them up everytime you see it. And see if you can get some witnesses. IT keeps warning us that they can trace everything we do on the computer through our code. When will they do something about this abuse of privileges? This is theft, pure and simple. When you are on the clock, you are supposed to be caring for pts. TPTB wil not take us seriously when we ask for more staff if this is what we spend our work hours doing. People who indulge in this type of behavior make it difficult for ALL of us.

2. See Above. Any nurse worth her salt will help you catch up on your work if she is not otherwise engaged in her own duties. Frequently, however, she is... And I don't mean SURFING EBAY, or other personal s***t. Also, if you need help, don't forget to ask for it.

3. Write them up. Every time. If they are down as a consult, they are getting paid BIG BUCKS to do their job. Make a stink!

4. Call him. Call him again. Call him until the family is satisfied. See Above.

5. What is bsc? And write them up, too, until they are performing the job that they are being PAID to do. EVERYONE is replaceable!

6. Does she have something pressing going on? (Or, more likely, 12 other things that have to be taken care of by a liscenced nurse RIGHT NOW). The reason you have a job is because she needs someone to step in the breach b/c she has DR's/family/staffing/supervisor/lab/CT/etc to call, ivs to start, discharges/admissions to complete, ad infinitum. If we could do our job w/o your help, we would. Believe me, we're capable.

7. NEVER start a call to DR w/an apology. If it weren't urgent, you wouldn't be calling. This wastes his time and makes you look frivilous. Short and sweet. Say what you have to and get it done.

8. Again, write them up every time it happens. Nothing will get better if you don't say anything.

9. Too bad. What are they going to do? Fire you? If they hire someone new who is not familiar w/the job they will be paying even MORE OT. Do your best to be as effecient as possible. But no one is perfect. What do they expect w/16 pts?

10. Whew!!!!. Thank you. I feel so much better now!:)